NEW QUICK TEST FOR FECAL OCCULT BLOOD

Colorectal cancer is one of the most common cancers of the industrialized world,
and it has a high mortality rate.
                                              

Biohit is extending its range of diagnostic tests for gastrointestinal diseases 
with the ColonView quick test, which is intended to aid early diagnosis and     
prevention of colorectal cancer. ColonView testing can be used for simple and   
cost-effective identification of patients with fecal occult blood, which is a   
well-known marker for colorectal cancer and pre-cancerous large adenomas.       
ColonView testing can also give information on possible other disease of the    
gastrointestinal tract that is associated with bleeding.                        

ColonView Hb test detects human hemoglobin (Hb) from red blood cells, and       
ColonView Hb/Hp test detects hemoglobin/haptoglobin complex (Hb/Hp). They are   
immunological tests that specifically detect human fecal occult blood. For this 
reason, ColonView testing does not require a special diet on the days before or 
during sample collection. Patients can collect fecal samples at home on three   
consecutive days with the specific and convenient sample collection kit
provided by the laboratory or the doctor, and forward the samples to the
laboratory for single-step testing. 

Risk groups for colorectal cancer include the elderly, and also relatives of    
colorectal cancer patients. Diagnosis of the cancer at an early stage           
significantly improves the prognosis. For this reason, screening programs for   
colorectal cancer are recommended or ongoing in many countries.                 

Screening for fecal occult blood has been found to improve early detection of   
colorectal cancer in many studies. The sensitive and specific ColonView tests   
are well suited for screening programs and for testing of patients in hospitals,
doctors' practices and occupational health centers for fecal occult blood.      
Patients who may benefit from this are those suffering from dyspepsia, and      
people over 50 years of age, in particular, as part of routine health checks.   

The global market for quick tests intended for detection of fecal occult blood  
is already worth over EUR 500 million, of which most is still achieved by sales 
of tests that are not specific for human blood.                                 

Read more at www.biohit.com.                                                    


Further information:                                                            

Aino Telaranta-Keerie, Product Manager                                          
Tel: +358 (0)9 7738 6265, aino.telaranta-keerie(at)biohit.com 


About Biohit Oyj                                                                

Biohit Oyj develops, manufactures and markets liquid handling products and      
diagnostic test systems for use in research, health care and industrial         
laboratories.                                                                   

Liquid handling products include electronic and mechanical pipettes and         
dispensers, and disposable tips, as well as pipette maintenance and calibration 
services. Diagnostics business comprises products and analysis systems for      
diagnosing, screening and prevention of gastrointestinal diseases, e.g. the     
blood-sample based GastroPanel and GastroView, for diagnosing diseases of the   
stomach and associated risks, as well as biopsy specimen quick tests for the    
diagnosis of lactose intolerance and H. pylori infection.                       

Biohit Oyj is headquartered in Finland. Biohit has subsidiaries in France,      
Germany, the UK, Russia, China, Japan and the USA. Additionally, Biohit's       
products are sold by approximately 450 distributors in 70 countries. Biohit's   
share (BIOBV) is quoted on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki.                             

Read more at www.biohit.com